[wheel-7]

I have a Holley Street Avenger carb on a 350 chevy engine. I took the choke assembly apart and used some wd-40 to loosen it up a bit due to a fast idle.
Anyway, I put it back on the carb.The car will idle fine but the primaries wont open when its running. Not running, the primaries and throttle linkage work great. its like the throttle linkage is jammed.Im sure the problem is in the choke assembly somewhere. I checked the Holley web site put it shows no drawings of how the choke is supposed to go back together.
Would really appreciate any help, drawings, pictures on how the choke assembly is to go back together..

[bracketeer]

Does the street avenger use the same electric choke as the DP? If so I can scan the drawings and post them.

[wheel-7]

I really dont know if they are they same or not? Would not hurt to post the drawings in the knowledge base.

[bracketeer]

This posting dropped to the bottom very quickly. I had to do a search to find it. Do you still need the drawings?

[wheel-7]

Please post the drawings..Im sure that someone besides me will need them.
They would be excellent in the knowledge base.
I figured out what I did wrong..Dumb rookie mistake on my part. When I assembled the choke I didnt attach the spring to the arm. The vacuum must have prevented the throttle butterflies from opening when it was running. Turn the engine off and the throttle worked great.
Running great now but still cursed with the 1100-1200 RPM idle. I think thats the best its going to get?
Thanks again for your follow up with me. Please post the drawings for future reference

[willys36@aol.com]

You should be able to idle the Holley all the way down to so slow that the engine stalls. There are two idle adjustment screws on a Holley. First I assume you have adjusted the primary idle adjustment screw - the one with a spring on it on the primary crank arm near the base of the arm. If the rest of the carb is in adjustment, backing this screw out should kill the engine. you should be able to tune the engine to any idle speed desired with it.

Assuming that primary idle adjustment screw is working but doesn't reduce idle speed I can think of only three other possible causes for high idle. First, if your choke actuation rods got bent or are still installed wrong that will prop the primaries open. Take the carb off the engine and look at the primary butterflies with the carb closed. with the primary idle adjustment screw backed out the primary butterflies should close to a very tight seal against the primary bores. If there is ANY daylight, something is bent or installed incorrectly.

The other two possible causes of high idle speed are less likely in a carb that was running fine before you tinkered with it but they deserve mention anyway.

One is caused by previous owners drilling small (1/16" - 1/8") holes in the primary butterflies due to having a large a cam in the engine. With a big cam, sometimes the butterflies have to be propped open so far that the idle transfer slots are inactive so the engine dies on idle. By drilling the holes, there is enough air getting to the engine but the butterflies can still be closed enough to allow the idle fuel transfer slots to become active.

The other possible cause is the secondary 'idle adjustment' screw being screwed in too far propping open the secondary butterflies and they are actually flowing at idle. This screw is on the passenger side, actuates a little arm on the throttle shaft on the secondary shaft and can only be accessed from the bottom of the carb with the carb off the engine. It's purpose is, again on a radical cammed engine, to prop the secondaries open slightly so there is a flow established and when they pop open there is a smooth transition of flow.

Again, I doubt you are suffering from the latter two causes. Take the carb off and play with the linkages until you can seat the primary butterflies tightly. Then you should be able to idle it perfectly.

Incidentally, here is a good step-by-step photo essay on Holley carb rebuild.